Cleaning ThinkPads

[pointyhat]

I'm about to throw my T410 on the market. How do I go about effectively cleaning it? Historically I've not bothered as I usually destroy ThinkPads through overuse but this one is quite tidy. I buy them as refurbs and they are squeaky clean but I've never worked out how they do it. Any tips/suggestions?

[Medessec]

Most of the time when a laptop is "properly refurbished", all the bad plastics that are worn or scratched up are replaced with new parts, and the insides are cleaned up of dust and residue. While it's apart it's also best to replace the thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink (GPU to if it applies), and also remove all critical components that can be separated and re-seat them(CPU, RAM, HDD), to make sure nothing's loose or conked out.

If your laptop has residue or any unwanted marks that come off with abrasion, as well as just plain dirtiness, alcohol pads work wonders. It's also just fine to go over your laptop with a damp cloth, it's amazing how much better a laptop looks after a quick wipe down.

I'm pretty sure some others on here have much better ideas about how to refurb a laptop though.

[precip9]

This is specificially for the flock-paint lid:

Saturate a lint-less towel, such as the Bounty brand, with charcoal lighter fluid. Swab, with very light pressure, in even strokes, without reversing. Keep the towel saturated throughout. Allow to air dry.

The procedure removes the hand-grease, without sacrificing the paint.

[sir_synthsalot]

I use a lot of isopropanol. It's used, you never know, someone might have used it to watch porn.

[EvoT61]

i use very light mpc/apc and some brushes and towels and steamcleaner ... stem mainly for a base ... coz when i took my thinkpads base apart ... i got shocked of how dirty it was... so adding my car detailing knowledge i cleaned it up and lego it back just did not tried to protect with some sort of wax , sealant and coating because of strange rubberized surface ( i need to try anyway... just for curiosity ) ,and i will protect my screen with window repelent system, and it will b easy peasy to clean my screen
keabord was cleaned with long hair brush and hoover.